Being in school at Delmar college has been a lot of fun the last month, we learned a lot about the chemicals and ingredients that go into hair services and how they work. I personally find this stuff very interesting because I feel like once I have a complete understanding of everything that goes into hair color and lightening I will be able to start creating really amazing things with human hair.

We also just started doing color application and I find this to be really fun and surprisingly relaxing. There were a couple of people in my class that found it to be a little stressful, so if you decide to take a hair program and you are struggling, don’t panic because there are people that found it just as hard as you do that are now doing amazing!

This program is moving along way faster than I thought it would be, I feel like we just started the program and we’re about to start working on the salon floor this following month.

I think most of the class is pretty nervous about starting on the salon floor but I have a good feeling about everyone in the class doing well on the midterm exams and doing an amazing job on the salon floor.

I believe that as long as we all remember that we’re still learning, and not be too hard on ourselves, the turn out will be amazing!!

Below are some photos of everyone doing their first color application and some pictures of my first spiral perm wrap!

Thank you to everyone who made August such a great month at Delmar College! Here is a recap of what we got up to…

Morgan Calvert wrote a third installment to the Diary of a Hair student blog journal. She has been keeping us up to date on how her class is progressing through the 1400 hour Hair Design program. Click here to read her last entry, and stay tuned, because next week we will be publishing her fourth entry.

Lainnee Simpson was our Delmar Ambassador for the month of August. Click here to read her blog post. Thank you Lainnee for being such a great ambassador of our college!

Sarah Haji completed our Masters of Esthetics diploma. She is the first and we could not be any prouder of her accomplishments. She also represented Delmar at the Skills Alberta competition and went on to become a member of Team Alberta and competed at Skills Canada last spring. Click here to learn more.

We welcomed some guest speakers as well.

Thank you to Jason Olandesca of GLOW M+D Clinics for spending the day with our Clinical Esthetics students. We learned so much about the medical side of the beauty business.

Thank you to Coy of Coy Hair for coming in and educating our hair students on the UNITE hair care line. We loved having you and look forward to seeing you again soon.

Delmar Nail Technology alumni Ria Parsbey wrote a blog post for us about what life was like after graduation and how she has built a successful business. Click here to read her post.

Aaron Knox joined our Makeup Department. Aaron brings a ton of talent to the team and will be teaching our revamped Makeup 103 and 104 programs. Click here to read more about him.

Aaron will also be hosting our Halloween Haunt workshop at the end of September. Call us at (403) 264-8055 for details.

We shared some amazing images from some of our past student photo shoots. Scroll down to check them all out.

Hair: Meghan Roberts / Model: Taylor Wood

Hair: Mitra Grondin / Model: Airelle Rogado / Photo: Brandon Shaw

Hair: Jade Isaak / Model: Laura Phaneuf / Photo: Brandon Shaw

Hair: Cheril Lim / Model: Alejandrina / Photo: Brandon Shaw

Hair Design student Brianna with her model. Photo: Brandon Shaw

Now accepting future barbers. Have you always wanted to specialize in men’s grooming? Delmar College is proud to announce that your dreams can now become your reality. Our 1400 hour, licensed and accredited, Barber & Hairstyling program is ready to launch and become the first of its kind in Alberta. Class starts in October. Limited seats available. Call us at (403) 264-8055 for details. Student aid options available. Click here for more information.

Body artist Aaron Knox applies his airbrush skills to the human form, that allow him to bring exceptionally creative designs to life through a range of artistic techniques.

After studying the art of body painting in Montréal, Aaron formed the company Liquid Imprints Face and Body Art, with his wife, Melanie, 10 years ago. Working for some of the biggest companies in Toronto providing living breathing artwork. They continue today to change the landscape with their unique artwork wherever they go.

Aaron’s work has been showcased at a number of conventions where he collaborates with professional make-up brands, artists and photographers, creating stunning body paintings.

Airbrushing is the main medium used in all the designs. Also specializing in character makeup and special effects. His body painting has been a main feature at continuous Imats shows in LA & NY, Fan Expo, Toronto Comicon, & the Allied Beauty Show.

Delmar College is pleased to announce that Aaron Knox will now be teaching our revamped Makeup 103 and Makeup 104 programs. He will also be hosting our upcoming Halloween Haunt workshop, September 29 to October 1, 2017. For program details please email Linda Villeneuve at lindav@delmarcollege.com.

Hi, my name is Lainnee and I am currently in the Hair Design program at Delmar.

I chose Delmar after I had done research on many different hair design schools. I knew I wanted to come to Calgary, even though it was much further for me from home, because of the amazing reviews on this school. I had talked to a couple people who are graduates and they had nothing but great things to say, Delmar just seemed to be a perfect fit.

Working on a bride

Ever since I was young I have been interested in the beauty industry. I am inspired by the way a career can become art and expression, and you can help others feel good about themselves. The past few years I have done makeup for weddings, grads, and events, and have finished my eyelash extension and nail tech course. I had felt that something was missing. This is when I decided it was time to go to hair school. I feel more comfortable in this course than in anything else I have ever done. I have the best support from my family and friends, which made this decision very easy.

A makeup look I did

My advice for future students at Delmar is: Never stop trying and practicing. If this is something you are passionate about doing, just do it and don’t look back, you will not be disappointed.

Some styling work I did on my mannequin in class

After graduating I see myself completing my apprentice hours under an amazing stylist back home. After I complete my government exam I plan to open my own salon in my hometown. The thing I look forward to the most is waking up everyday and going to a job I enjoy and am passionate about.

Working on fingerwaves in class

My favourite part about school so far is learning from teachers who are so passionate about what they are teaching, and who genuinely care about your future in this industry. Many things I have learned so far are difficult and take a lot of practice. I still have a lot to learn but I look forward to continuing to get better and having such great people help me succeed.

–Lainnee

Lainnee Simpson is our August 2017 Delmar Student Ambassador. Every month we select a student who we believe represents Delmar College, and the beauty industry, with the highest regard. We reward them with an amazing prize and feature them in our blog.

Hello Everyone. This month we have been mostly focusing on our timing and getting everything organized for our midterm exams. I honestly haven’t been so nervous about anything in my life like I am for this! We did our mock exam last week and no one passed, but that’s okay because apparently no one ever passes the mock exam. So that makes me feel better!

When you first start school everything is going to seem impossible but now that I’m into my third month I’m starting to feel pretty confident in everything other than finger waves. The whole class struggles with them so if you feel like you will never get the hang of it, that’s totally okay because I feel that way too! But I can see the improvement in mine and everyone else’s finger waves!

This month has been pretty crazy because our regular instructor Erin had to do her other class’s final photo shoot with them on some days so we had a bunch of different instructors filling in for her, and I can honestly say this is the first school I have attended where I liked all the teachers! Everyone here really knows what they are doing and do a great job educating their students!

I have learned so much more in hair school than I thought I was going to learn, but it’s honestly amazing and I’m still extremely happy with my decision to go to Delmar for hair dressing!

I’m sorry for the lack of pictures this time because we haven’t really been working on anything new, but I did get all these pictures of what everyone’s finger waves look like after three months of practicing!

My name is Ria and I’m the owner of Talon Nail Bar. I graduated from the Nail Technician Program at Delmar College in 2015. I was, and still am, completely obsessed with all things beauty and fashion. It was no surprise to anyone that I got into the beauty biz. When I was 16 I became a makeup artist, when I was 18 I entered the fashion industry, at 19 I ran a makeup school, and became a Nail Tech when I was 30. Here’s my guide to surviving the beauty biz and nail industry after graduation.

I always knew that I wanted to be a business owner. But I’ve seen many salon owners and beauty professionals open businesses thinking they can provide great beauty services. But it ain’t that easy and they often end up with really poor businesses– this is why I am choosing to do things a little bit differently.

I opened Talon Nail Bar in November of 2015 and worked as a sub-contractor. Unfortunately, I made my first big business mistake. I worked for a young woman that had no idea how to run a business. She had no business plan, no marketing plan, absolutely nothing. I wasn’t given the opportunity to build any clientele and I quickly wasted 8 months. It was time to move on.

Let me tell ya, there is a huge learning curve when it comes to running a business and providing services at the same time. I learnt that you need to do your research, trust no one, be bold, ask questions and always have your own back.

I was given an amazing opportunity to move Talon Nail Bar to a cooperative beauty boutique in Inglewood. I did my research, asked a lot of questions, and before I knew it my luck had changed. Now that I had found a great location for my business it was time to grow my clientele. This is by far the most exhausting and challenging part of the beauty business. With an industry that is full of competition it’s so important to stay on top of the game. So, how am I doing this? Social media, social media, social media.

Learning and educating yourself about hashtags, posts that keep your audience’s attention, taking amazing pictures of your work and keeping things original. Reposting other people’s work and tagging others is also a fantastic way to draw attention to your posts. Advertising on social media is another great way to gain followers and clientele, it’s also an affordable way to get the word out about your business. But social media fatigue is a real thing and it can become overwhelming, so limit yourself and don’t obsess over it too much!

Okay, so you’ve got an amazing location, you’re getting the word out about your business, clients are walking through the door and now it’s all about staying on top, keeping up with trends, and staying skilled. In the nail industry, this is huge. There are new nail trends almost monthly and while only some of these trends stay around, a lot don’t. But you need to be offering the latest and greatest! This can get expensive so my best advice is to spend money on education instead of always following trends. Take as many courses as you can and learn as much as you can. Knowledge is power. I would also recommend focusing on basic skills and becoming confident with that, as the nail industry can become really overwhelming. I’ve also learnt that beauty professionals love being asked questions and educating others, so ask as many questions as possible and learn from others in your industry. This can also give you an edge on your competition and ultimately give you more confidence.

If I could offer any piece of advice for people fresh out of beauty school it would be to be yourself, stay true to who you are and never let anyone tell you that being you isn’t good enough. Trust me, this will happen. Stay authentic and do things differently. In the end it all comes down to originality.

–Ria

Ria Parsbey is the owner of Talon Nail Bar and is a Delmar College alumni. We are proud to showcase the successes (and the challenges) of our graduates. You can see Ria’s work and learn more about her business by checking out her webpage, www.talonnailbar.com

Hi! I’m Lily and I am a student in the esthetician program at Delmar and loving it! When it came to choosing where I wanted to study, I had a handful of places in mind, but luckily for me, Delmar made the decision easy. When I met with Linda, the Director of Esthetics, her welcoming smile and passion for what she does won me over right away. Hearing about how she got to where she is today ignited something in me and I left that meeting full of excitement, ready to get started!

Receiving my award for Student of the MonthI am currently in my 8th week of 27 and can’t believe how quickly the weeks are flying by! Each week I look forward to theory in the mornings with Rae. Her style of teaching just clicks with me and I enjoy sharing in her knowledge. Then my afternoon is spent with Christy in the spa, where I develop my practical skill. Thanks to Christy’s patience and talent we were able to take our first clients last week and all though it was a little nerve- racking it was a lot of fun to put what we had learned into practise.

Scavenger hunt with senior student Nicole. We won 3rd place and had heaps of fun!

Without sounding too much of a cliché I have loved everything about my Delmar experience this far, pedicures being my favourite service -to my surprise! I have to give a shout out to my classmates, I feel extremely lucky to have such a motivational, supportive group of girls and I look forward to growing in knowledge and skill with them.

My amazing classmates!If I was to give future students any advice I would say just show up everyday ready to learn and have fun.

I am so excited in what the future holds for me, once I have graduated I hope to work in a spa to develop my skills further and gain some real life work experience. My dream is to own a spa and with a lot of hard work and dedication I believe this is possible.

A snap from my wedding last year. I have lived in Calgary for 5 years, but I am originally from the UK. Having my family all together is a rarity and something I cherish. My family are my world and I miss them every day.A big thank you to my instructors Rae and Christy, your guidance and encouragement has built my confidence and continues to do so everyday. I can’t wait to see what the rest of my Delmar journey will entail.

Hello again everyone. This is my second diary entry, and hair school is starting to get really interesting.

Me getting to the CosmoProf hair show with one of my classmatesThey really kicked up the work load starting this month, and it’s beginning to get a little challenging, but I know that this is something I really want to do with my life so I’ll never give up! So far in the month of June we have learned all line cuts and we just finished learning all of the layers as well. The next thing we will be learning about is graduation in cutting hair, and I’m really excited about this but also just a smidgeon nervous because I’ve heard from classes that are a couple months ahead of us that that’s when it gets harder!

Me meeting the Wella educatorOne thing I’ve noticed that has improved since I’ve started hair school is my time management. My agenda has become my best friend, because even with going to school 30 hours a week, and working on your days off you need to make time for yourself and still have fun so you don’t get stressed out!

Me and my classmate getting excited about American CrewDelmar also gets tickets for students at discounted rates sometimes, and I highly recommend going to the hair shows. I’ve only been to one so far, but I learned a lot and discovered new colouring techniques! I also met many successful people in the hair industry from all different product lines.

Me meeting the American Crew educatorWe are just now getting into our practical exams. We did our first mock head massage exam, and it actually went really well, I was super nervous and shaking a small amount when my instructor was watching me to make sure I was doing it right but other than that I really enjoyed the experience!

Me practicing color melting with MatrixMonthly tip : Never use your hot tools on high heat!! A girl in my class was using the curling iron on my hair and it was on high heat because her hair and the mannequin hair could handle it, but since my hair had been processed it just melted an entire curl off.